Question of the Day

Have you been impacted by the government shutdown?

Story TOpics

SELMA, Ala. (AP) - A man died Monday after attacking an officer and booking clerk at a police station in central Alabama, authorities said.

The man died from a gunshot wound after a struggle with an officer at the Selma Police Department, but Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said it wasn’t clear whether he was shot during the confrontation or killed himself after fleeing to another part of the building.

Authorities have not released the dead man’s name.

The incident began Monday morning when the man was being arrested on domestic violence charges for an incident involving his mother, Jackson said.

Armed with a razor or box-cutter-type blade, the man cut the booking clerk’s throat and then grabbed a police officer’s gun, Jackson said. Shots were fired during the struggle for the gun and the man fled into an old section of the jail, Jackson said. The police officer was also cut during the struggle.

Selma Police Chief John Brock told The Selma Times-Journal (https://bit.ly/2faYpXq ) that officers found the man slouched over in a cell with a gunshot wound to the body and the officer’s gun still in his hand.

The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.

The injuries to the officer and clear are not life-threatening, and they will recover, Jackson said.